Detachable, adult-size, toilet seat



March 2, 1965 P. v. BRUNELLE DETACHABLE, ADULT-SIZE, TOILET SEAT Filed July 2, 1962 2 6 6 .0 6 I'II 3 NH4- 8 3l a O1 5 3 [V 3 1 47| o 36 3 IMU; .d .IIN M l) o 4 s A Mm- 8 2 3 2 IIHH 36 Il' 5 5 5 Il IIIIIII P. VICTOR BY PW United States Patent M 3,171,138 DETACHABLE, ADULT-SHE, TGILET SEAT Pierre Victor Brunello, 30 Standish St., Lowell, Mass. Filed .iuly 2, '1962, Ser. No. 206,589 3 Claims. (l. tif- 237) This invention relates to detachable seats for use on the rim of a conventional water closet bowl.

Such seats have heretofore been proposed, especially for the use of small children, to provide a smaller seating surface at the normal seat level, and have usually been about equal in thickness to the pivotable, adult-type seat Conventional in the art. It has also been proposed to provide relatively narrow forward openings in conventional, or childrens, seats and detachable seats have sometimes had a coating of friction material on the underface to prevent slippage on the rim of the bowl.

The ring shaped, detachable seats of the prior art, whether relatively thick or relatively thin, do not have the wide forward opening which is an essential element of this invention. Similarly, the split U shaped, nondetachable seats of the prior art, have only a hinge pivot rod connecting the rearward part of the split portions and do not form a continuous upper face or a continuous inner compartment, these also being an essential element of the preferred form of this invention.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a detachable adult size seat for a conventional water closet bowl which is at least three, and preferably four, inches in thickness, or height, thereby raising the level of the occupant to above squatting position, which has a relatively wide forward opening at least six inches in width and which has a contoured U-shaped upper face extending forwardly from the rearward portion to the said forward opening. The invention is particularly adapted for feminine hygiene use but gives little or no indication of its intended purpose when not in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide in such a seat, a continuous, U shaped, liquid containing chamber, a rearward liquid inlet with a detachable closure, a forward air inlet nipple and a forward liquid outlet nipple, as well as compartment means for storing feminine hygiene articles so that the device is substantially self sufficient for its purpose but free of obvious exterior attachments.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a seat wherein the upper part is of rigid self supporting material compartmented to contain articles and the lower part is a flat, flexible resilient douche bag of rubber-like material whereby the weight of the occupant creates the necessary douche pressure while the seat still supports the occupant at substantially the original height.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the claims, the description of the drawing and from the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of one embodiment of the invention, in section on line 1 1 of FIG. 2 and showing a conventional water closet bowl in dotted lines,

FIG. 2 is a front View in section on line 2 2 of FG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device shown in FGURES 1 and 2, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevation, in half section, similar to FIG. 1 but showing another embodiment of the invention.

As shown in dotted lines in FIGURES 1 and 2, a conventional water closet bowl il has a horizontal rim 2l at the rear 22, front 23 and on both opposite sides 2d and 25', as well as a seat `26 and cover 27 pivotaliy mounted at 28.

The adult size seat Sti, of the invention, includes a generally U shaped, unitary body 31 conforming in configuration to the shape of the rear 22 and sides 24 and Z5 of the rim 21. The bow 32 of the U is to the rear and the 3,1 'Z 1,13% Pateted'lviar. 2, 14965 terminal ends 33 and 34, of the legs 35' and Se of the U, are spaced apart at least six inches to form the relatively wide forward opening 37. The thickness, or height, of the body 31 is at least three inches, and preferably about four inches, in order to raise the level of an adult occupant above the squatting position and well above the level of the rim 21 of the conventional seat `26.

A covering 4t) of rubber-like material of substantial thickness, such as one quarter inch or more, is fixed by a suitable adhesive 41, or any other suitable means, to the underside 38 of the body 31.

The covering '40 is identical with the body 31, in U- shaped coniiguration, with corresponding rearward bow portion e2, leg portions 43 and 44 and terminal end portions 45 and 46 defining the enlarged forward opening 47 in registration with the forward opening 37. The lower face 48 of covering #iii is arranged to frictionally engage the rear 22 and sides 24 and 2S of the upper face of r'nn 2 so that the unitary seat 3i) may be placed thereon without sliding off and may be easily detached when not in useY Unlike the seats of the prior art in which the upper face of the seat has been horizontal, or in which mechanism has been provided for tilting the seat rearwardly, the upper face 50 of the body -31 of the seat of this invention may slope slightly forwardly. The upper face 5t) is contoured, rather than horizontal and parallel to the lower face 38, with the rearward portion at least one quarter inch above the level of the forward portion when the seat '30 is supported on the rim .21 of a bowl. The forward leg portions 51 and 52 of the upper face Sti are substantially horizontal and parallel to the lower face "4S of covering et? but the rearward leg portions S3 and 54 slope upwardly and rearwardly to the rearward bow portion 55.

It is applicants belief that the slight forward slope of the contoured upper face, the height of the seat and the width of the forward opening render the seat`30 more convenient and eflicient for feminine hygiene purposes as well as permitting the user to avoid the squatting position of the conventional bowl.

Preferably the covering 4t? includes a narrow integral bead 69, about one quarter inch in thickness which depends from the inner edge of the bow portion and leg portion a suliicient distance to engage the inner edge of the rim 21 to prevent undue lateral movement of the seat 3) when detachably supported thereon.

The body 3l may be of solid material such as wood, foam plastic or the like, but preferably it is a hollow plastic shell, as shown in FIGURES l and 2, to provide one or more inner compartments 61 and 62. In the ernbodiment shown in FlG. 1 the lower compartment 61 is continuous, with a rearward inlet 63 and a forward outlet 641i, the compartment forming a chamber arranged to contain about two quarts of liquid. The rearward wall 65 of the upper compartment 62- includes a hand aperture no about six inches in width and two inches in height to give access to the inlet 63 for filling the chamber 61 and to permit articles of feminine hygiene to be stored in the compartment when not in use. A suitable detachable, rubber bulb air pump and tube may be stored in compartment 62 and attached to an air inlet nipple connection 67', at the forward portion of chamber 61 to create pressure within the chamber and thereby expel iiuid from the liquid outlet nipple connection 64 into'a detachable tube or nozzle, such bulbs and tubes being well known in, for example, the outboard motor art.

ln another embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 4, an adult-size, detachable, unitary seat 70 is illustrated having a hollow, body 71 of rigid, self supporting material and an attached covering 72 of rubber-like material. The upper face 7S is substantially identical in contour with upper face 50, the lower face '74 is of friction material and beaded and the seat is of generally U shape with a large forward opening 75. In this embodiment the body 71 is about three inches in height and the covering 72 constitutes a flexible, resilient, hollow douche bag 76 about one inch in height when filled with about two quarts of liquid. As shown in FIG. 4 the bag 76 is subf stantially flat and of generally rectangular cross section, even when expanded, the lower face 74 remaining flat to frictionally engage the rim of the bowl. The body 71 is hollow to form the inner compartment 77 for article storage, there being a rearward aperture 73 to give access to the compartment and to the inlet 79 of the douche bag 76. The weight of an adult sitting on seat 70 creates pressure within the douche bag 7 6 to expel liquid through the outlet 80 located on the inner side of the right leg portion of the seat at the level of the bottom of the liquid chamber 81 within the bag. Inlet '79 is provided with a well known type of threaded closure and outlet Sil is a Well known type of nipple for detachably receiving a tube, nozzle or the like such as are much used in the enema, syringe and allied arts.

In use, the seat '7G will gradually descend a total of about one inch in height, as the liquid is expelled from the bag, but the occupant will still be in a position higher than squatting position when the contents of the bag are exhausted. Because or" the increasing iiexibility of the covering '72, as the liquid contents are being expelled, the occupant can either retain the original slightly forward slope of the upper face 73 or can increase the angle of forward slope if desired.

For want of a better term, I call the position of a person sitting on the seat of this invention a jockey or straddle position, to distinguish from the conventional squatting position.

The feminine hygiene seat of the invention, is free of attachment to the water closet, to be stored when not in use and simply placed on the bowl rim when in use. Because of the U-snaped configuration, the device can be tilled while it is straddled on the rim of a bathtub and it can be hung on a hook out of the way when not in use.

I claim:

l. In a feminine hygiene device of the type having a detachable, rubber bulb air pump and a detachable, nozzle tube the combination of:

an adult size, one piece, U-shaped, hollow water closet seat of thin, rigid, self-supporting plastic, said U- shaped seat having a fiat rearward wall and curved side walls conforming in coniiguration with the rear and side rims of the bowl of a conventional water closet, being independent of attachment to said Water closet and having:

a continuous, U-shaped lower face for supporting engagement on said bowl rim;

a continuous U-shaped upper face, at a spaced distance of at least three inches above said lower face for supporting an occupant in a straddle, or jockey, position;

oppositely disposed terminal ends, on the legs of said U-shaped seat, spaced at least six inches apart to form a wide forward opening for facilitating feminine hygiene;

a continuous, U-shaped narrow bead depending downwardly proximate the inner edge of said at lower face to prevent lateral movement of said seat on said bowl rim;

a continuous, U-shaped, compartment Within said hollow seat, forming a liquid chamber;

liquid inlet means, in the rearward portion of said seat, connected to said chamber, said means including a detachable closure;

an air inlet nipple, in the forward terminal end of one leg of said seat, for detachable connection of said rubber bulb air pump;

and a liquid outlet nipple in the forward terminal end of the other said leg of said seat, for detachable connection of said nozzle tube;

said seat being adapted to be quickly placed on the bowl rim of a water closet for feminine hygiene purposes and easily removed therefrom for storage when not in use.

2. A feminine hygiene device as specified in claim l wherein:

said seat includes a second continuous U-shaped compartment forming a storage chamber for said air pump and nozzle;

said seat having a hand aperture in the rearward wall thereof for receiving articles to be stored in said second compartment.

3. A feminine hygiene device as specified in claim 1 wherein the forward portions of the upper faces of the legs of said seat are parallel to said lower face and uniformly spaced therefrom;

and the rearward portion of the said upper face is inclined, and slopes downwardly from said rearward wall toward the said forward portions of the upper faces of said legs.

References Cited hy the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 779,164 l/ 05 Jamison 12S-226 929,079 7/09 Cresse 4-237 XR 93 0,009 8/ 09 Williams 12S-226 1,093,373 4/14 Bamford 4-237 1,295,706 2/ 19 Dailey 128--226 1,784,620 12/30 Booth 4 237 2,000,658 5/35 Bushold 4-98 2,205,368 7/4() Ross 128--226 2,598,577 5/52 Mattison 4-237 2,790,182 4/57 Malin' 4-237 2,875,450 3/59 Umann 4-237 2,980,922 4/61 Taylor 4-235 FOREIGN PATENTS 995,625 8/51 France.

17,583 8/06 Great Britain.

LEWIS J. LENNY, Primary Examiner.

FRANK E. BAILEY, EDWARD V. BENHAM,

Examiners. 

1. IN A FEMININE HYGIENE DEVICE OF THE TYPE HAVING A DETACHABLE, RUBBER BULB AIR PUMP AND A DETACHABLE, NOZZLE TUBE THE COMBINATION OF: AN ADULT SIZE, ONE PIECE, U-SHAPED, HOLLOW WATER CLOSET SEAT OF THIN, RIGID, SELF-SUPPORTING PLASTIC, SAID USHAPED SEAT HAVING A FLAT REARWARD WALL AND CURVED SIDE WALLS CONFORMING IN CONFIGURATION WITH THE REAR AND SIDE RIMS OF THE BOWL OF A CONVENTIONAL WATER CLOSET, BEING INDEPENDENT OF ATTACHMENT TO SAID WATER CLOSET AND HAVING: A CONTINUOUS, U-SHAPED LOWER FACE FOR SUPPORTING ENGAGEMENT ON SAID BOWL RIM; A CONTINUOUS U-SHAPED UPPER FACE, AT A SPACED DISTANCE OF AT LEAST THREE INCHES ABOVE SAID LOWER FACE FOR SUPPORTING AN OCCUPANT IN A STRADDLE, OR JOCKEY, POSITION; OPPOSITELY DISPOSED TERMINAL ENDS, ON THE LEGS OF SAID U-SHAPED SEAT, SPACED AT LEAST SIX INCHES APART TO FORM A WIDE FORWARD OPENING FOR FACILITATING FEMININE HYGIENE; 